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t he Question of National Defense
Here is' what George Allen England say of -this
humbug scare, misnamed "preparedness"., .-
upon tho European butchery as an oxewse,,. tho ,ar(
mflmoni. makers and militarists aro detcrhllned
Speech of Hon; Isaac R. Sherwood, of Ohio,
in the House of Representatives, January 4,
lfllO.I
Mr. Sherwood. Mr. Speaker,. of course wo will
havo horrors and horrors on account of this bar
barous subnia'rino warfare; but the worst that
ran happen is tho sovoranco of diplomatic rela
tions' with, fciiy and all Empires across tho At
lantic wherein American citizens arc murdered.
Hut this docs not mean war. On dur south
western border during tho past two years 153
'American citizens have boon brutally murdered,
not bocattsu thoy woro on a ship carrying the
(lug of a 'belligerent or wore found with a hos
tllo army, but sololy because they were Amer
ican citizens, unarmed noncombatanls.
All (heso unspeakable horrors did not happen
in a. hostile zono 3,000 miles away, but within
100 miles of our own bordors. This submarine
warfare iri Hie most cowardly and barbarous of
all warfare since the world began. And yet we
are huilding a whole brood of submarines.
Wnv.'lb tho greatest crlmo of tho human race.
It Is' not in my philosophy that if tho murder of
ono plan makes a villain, tho murdor of thou
sands lprtkoH a hero. It is in my philosophy that
(ho iici'0 of humane achievement In tho uplift
of hfs follows transcends the hero of blood and
iron mud noise in a war of conquest. It is as
true today as 87 years ago, when uttered by that
greatest of Englishmen, Thomas Carlylo:
Handing army meunH waste, duproHHion. and
moral- decay. No nation can Improve lt morals or
l?row ,ln strength wjion ita bruvosl and best hoiib
aro year ly year devoured in tho army
Th'ls'jis the stand taken 'today by the sanest
statesman and ripest scholars Of tho age. A great
studont of othics says J "Tho soul grows In tho,
dlroolion of Its attention."
A nation, which is only tho aggregation of in
dividual souls, can hot bo moving toward peace
whil'o definitely preparing for war.
It Is With tho deopest regret that I am unable,
to agree with tho President on his proposed phin
of national dofonso. Tho President has rend
ered r,oilt service to tho country b'y his superb
diplomacy in keeping tho country in tho path of
peace," TJo has had more dlfllcult and perplox
Jng ftVpbloms to solve than any President since
the oehptinu oC nur federal constitution, and his
uiiflttgglfig dovolion to duty, his superb polso
amt '.inafttorful grasp of tho many diplomatic
problo'iris, which ho has settled in tho intorost of
peace, entitle him to tho lasting gratitude of all
thopeopld. I boliove, however, that ho has mis
taken the popular judgment in his preparedness
message. I boliovo tho dofeat of this scheme for
extra' taxation at this tlmo, when the federal
treasury is lank and lean, will command tho ap
appro,val and support of a majority of the peo
pio; while I havo boon a peace man for over half
a toOntHiry, I havo novor boon a peaco-at-any-price
devoteo. Neither am 1 a member of any
soctoty or association for limiting national arma
ment.! urn not from Missouri, but before I vote
to waste any more money to increase idle arip
. ies or top-heavy navies I want to know what
emergency exists for such expenditure. Ap
plause.) Up to date none of the advocates of
"preparedness" havo glvon congress or the peo
ple One valid roason why wo should squander
any more hard-earned tax money on militarism.
Not one; of this whole array of pretending patri
ots have pointed to an enemy olther Hostile to
tho United States or liable to attack the United
States. Less than one year ago, when the armies
of Ern'opo were more powerful, more formidable,
q'mn now by at least 5,000,000 soldiers, the
President and tho secrotary of war and tho sec
( rotary of tho navy all took strong grounds, in
, public interviews and proclamations! that we
, wore fully prepared for any emergency. This is
so well known that I need not cumber the Con
gressional Record with any quotations from their
well-timed utterances of sanity and senso.
Furthermore, the so-called exports of tho arniv
and navy less than ono year ago fully fortified
tho attitude of both the President and his cabr
inet on this vital question. At the hearings in
the last session of congress Gen. Erasmus M
Weaver, chief of coast artillery, whose duty- it
is, ho said, to "be advised as to the character
and sufficiency of our seacoust armament "
seated: - '
My information la that our system of' formica
tion IS reasonably adoquatn for all defensive nnV
poses which thoy are likely to bo called upon to
iiioor
And further said: ,v i'9
T havo been a oloxe student of the whole subject,
naturally, for a number of years, and I Know or
no fortifications in tho world, as far as my reading,
observation, and knowledgo goes, that compare fa
vorably In efficiency with ours.
Gen. Crozier, chief of ordnance, considered
one of the greatest experts in the country on
fortifications and guns, said:
In my opinion, these guns, with other advant
ages which our land-dofenso fortifications have,
will be adequate for maintaining a successful com
bat with vessels of war armed with any gun which
Is now under construction anywhere in the world
to my knowledge.
A very distinguished statesman of the repub
lican party, late a candidate for president and a
close student of continental events, gives the
country the benefit of his investigation as to the
origin of this colossal military propaganda. I
quote from La Follette's Magazine, which has
not yet been sued for libel:
Who are Lhe real patriots of the country? They
aro the glorious group of multimillionaires wljo
are making such enormous projtts out of the Euro
pean war as were never before realized in tho same
brief period since tlmo began. They are the, Mor
gans, tho Rockefellers, tho Schwabs, the Garys, the
du PontH, and their prototypes, who are back of tho
.'18 corporations most benefited by Avar orders, tho
.stocks pf which have Increased more, than a thou
sand million dollars aboVo their highest market
value beforo tho war. They are the dollar-scarred
heroes who organized the Navy league of the
United States. Shades of Lincoln! What n band of
patriots, with their business connections covering
every financial and Industrial center in the United
States! Owning newspapers, periodicals, and mag
azines and controlling through business relations
tho editorial good will of many others, the.V will bo
able to render powerful but disinterested aid, In
the great propaganda for preparedness now flood
ing tho country.
The bold Wisconsin editor' and statesman.
gives us an adequate idea Of the original source. ,
of the viperous liellbroth of threatening war
now sending its-malignant po.lson (tlrough war
scare journals and magazines Into lhe hearts,
and homes of thousands of well-meaning, timid
Americans.
Congress, under the constitution, is the only
power competent to declare war. If there is- any
enemy in sight or likely to attack the ynited
States, it is the solo duty of congress to take tho
initiative; and the power to declare war implies
tho power to make all preparations for war.
Article I, section 8, of the original constitution,
also states that congress shall have power to pro
vide for the common defense. Hence it follows
that congress has the sole power not only to de
clare war, but to provide for the common de
fense, and congress will be held 3trictly to ac
count by the people in the coming November
for any ill-timed or unnecessary laws, whether
enacted through fear of an impossible enemy or
because a powerful and greed-hungry cabal de
manded the sacrifice. No individual member of
congress can shift the responsibility for his vote
on this tho most vital question of the hour upon
either the President or his cabinet.
Tn all our history, from the first proclamation
of the federal constitution, signed bv Georee
Washington as president, September 3 7 1787
until now, no political party, no leading' states
man or leading publicist has ever before advo
cated a1 great standing army and navy in time of
peace. Whenever we are liable to be confronted
with an armed enemy I will vote for as manv
armed men and as much money as the President
may demand; and, furthermore. I will volunteer
as a soldier to go to the front, which is more
than any of this powerful array of culpable
curmudppons. who originated this horrid war
scare, will over do. (Applause.)
It is now up to this congress to decide whether
all the sacred history of the past, sacred because
humane and successful for over a hundred years
of undisturbed peace, shall continue to eiidure
in the purpose and hope of its founders, or
whether we shall enter the devious path of
world-power exploitation. Militarism and im
perialism are a couplet of devious devils t at
will carry the American people on the down
grade speedily. You can not separate militau
Ism from imperialism. To use an unclerica ex
press op, they are twin-devils of rapacitv and
moral decay - useless one without the other
Like the Siamese twins of lopg-time memo??'
they are coursed with the same blood, tfucVir vou
dt l,S CQra h w-. 5S
mameni. makers arm ranuunai aio uviuiiuu
to drive this country over the brink, If 'they cah.
They remain indifferent to all truisms such as that -"preparedness"
has not prevented but has always -.
induced war. There is money in this thing for
them; so down with old ago pensions,' educational ' .'
expansion, improvements of all kinds, antb-hurralr,
for Moloch. Militarism is a quiok Cut to millions, '
Molochr militarism, murder, massacre I think that '
sums it all up with neatness and dispatch. v "
The Toledo, Blade, of my district, the oldest
daily journal in northwestern Ohio of the'repub-"
lican faith, says: . t 'r ,
Sherwood stands alono among the Ohio ..delega
tion on tho preparedness program.' l '
While this is evidently a mistake, I should-
not feel lonesome or discouraged were it true;
Not long ago the Ohio State Journal, another'
old-time republican paper, published in the state '
capital, printed an editorial with the following
closing paragraph:
YV.e wish Ohio could take a positivo stand Xor .
peace in the halls of congress. Itthas not done so". ..
There is only one man who has represented his -
constituents faithfully upon this matter, and that" .
is Gen. Sherwood, of the T.oledo district. He has . ,
sounded the true note every time. . . ; .
Well, I have been alone before. . Tho bill of .,
May 13, 1908, to build a harbor of safety and,.aV
dry dock at Pearl Harbor in. the Sandwich Islands,
a bill providing for spending over $3, 000000
invoked much skyrocket oratory on the floor of,
the house. There was fear of a formidable' raid', '.'
on our Pacific coast by Japan. One of the lead-',?
ing orators of this eventful day was Capt. H.ob-.
son, bf Alabama. He convinced the aler,t-eared -t
members that Japan was about to attack the.
United States and assume warlike control pf ,th.e
great Pacific ocean, and without this ocean con'7
trol America would be lost. The, measure passed, ,
this house Avith.a hurrah 229 yeas to l,nb, as ',
I remember. On a roll call. I was the only ,inem- ,
ber voting against it. The tally clerk, .out" of '
sheer pity, came to me and saicjf "You are the
only one voting nq't; I thought you had made' a' -
mistake. Let up see.
- diiegi
meut
bor
feet, and t.hn bnttnm'f enrol Vnnlr xllhnna tt'w'a
should happen to, have a war witli Japan and a
naval conflict should occur 2,000 miles frdmthe
Pacific coast and one or more of our battleships
should be-.'disabledand should seek safety 4n
Pearl Harbor, it would hardly be able, to skim r
through 15 feet of water depth with a battleshin !
of 26 feet water displacement. Amount expend
ed for dredging to date $3,290,000. And yet the.
original "foolhardy Pearl Harbor preparedness'
was as W611 grounded in sanity and sense, asthe ,
present plan of "preparedness"- and not so' ex-',
pensive by some $445,000,000,
. SOME STAGGERING, FIGURES '
For the 10 years preceding the European .war-' .
we had expended on our navy over $3U0,00Q,000 '
more' than Germany or any other nation except! "
Great Britain.
These estimates almost stagger belief; and vet
this is not all the advocates of "preparedness"
demand. If carried into national law, it means,
national bankruptcy; of course, the swift ruin
of the democratic party, if a majority votes for
us stupendous, uncalled-for extravagajn.ee.
there is sure to be a healthy change of heart
when the facts are known among' all classes of
patriotic, peace-loving American citizens. Very
few persons who are talking about "prepared
ness have any. adequate idea of the immense
S J"JP3en "wived, not only for this year but
for all .the coming years. Here are the stagger
njr figures, all to be provided for in a new tax
bill!
The five-year naval program calls for an in
crease of $500,000,000no0,000,000 increase
a year which, including the expenses for eV
mtt VMS imVal establishment. wi'n '
leach $000,000,000 or over by the time the "five
years expire. This is all extra in addit on to
our mo ff Jm we are now making fS
oui idle, top-heavy navy. The army four-year
?iO00P000 OoKndB $45?'000'00 increase ove?
more thnn 10S iV being ai1 increase of
PPion ation? Pa 11 Ver Ur annuaI a
ippiopiiations. All extra appropriations At.
the expiration of the live-year period for th!
program this country will then be expendhig on
vorldT fimey than &Uy StS
oriu m times of peace ever expended
roJ891 the navy hatl 14So officers exciimtvT
of 239 naval cadets at the-naval academy' -Thl'
number of enlisted men allowed hi fill wkl -'
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